Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, on Sunday, January 4, rejected threats from his United States (U.S) counterpart, Donald Trump, urging him to stop slandering his name after Trump accused him of being a drug trafficker.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump made similar threats of military action against Colombia, saying the South American country is very sick too, and run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the U.S.
“He has cocaine mills and cocaine factories and is not going to be doing it very long,” Trump added.
Petro rebuffed the accusations, saying his name does not appear in court records.
“Stop slandering me, Trump,” Petro said on the social media platform X.
“That’s not how you threaten a Latin American president who emerged from the armed struggle and then from the people of Colombia’s fight for Peace.”
Petro has harshly criticised the Trump administration’s military action in the region and accused Washington of abducting Maduro without a legal basis.
In a later post to X on Sunday, Petro added, “Friends do not bomb.”
Colombia’s foreign ministry called the U.S president’s threats unacceptable interference and demanded respect.
Colombia and the U.S are key military and economic allies in the region, but their relations have been strained.
Since the start of Trump’s second term, the two leaders have regularly clashed over issues such as tariffs and migration policy.
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